Mourinho: Salah departure unlikely

Besiktas have been strongly linked for another raid on Chelsea in January for Mohamed Salah, but Jose Mourinho wants to keep the Egyptian.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has dismissed talk that Mohamed Salah is set to leave the club during the January transfer window.

Salah was signed from Basel in the corresponding window last year, but has found regular first-team opportunities hard to come by with the likes of Eden Hazard, Willian and Oscar often preferred by Mourinho.

In almost a year at Stamford Bridge, Salah has made just 13 Premier League appearances and Besiktas are thought to be suitors after president Fikret Orman confirmed he was in talks with Chelsea chiefs over signing another player from the London club to follow Demba Ba’s switch to Turkey.

Salah was an unused substitute for Chelsea’s 5-0 hammering of Swansea City on Saturday, and afterwards Mourinho refuted any suggestions that the Egypt international would be allowed to move on.

“He can’t leave, I have 20 players today with Didier [Drogba] a bit ill and [Cesar] Azpilicueta injured,” the manager said. 

“I had all my players here today, just [Nathan] Ake in the stands.

“I have a very short squad, I need everybody. For Salah to leave someone has to come, and I don’t think we are going to let Salah go on loan and then spend some money to bring somebody else in.

“So I don’t think so, unless my club comes to me and says Salah goes on loan and we are going to buy a £50million player.”

With Saturday’s thumping of Swansea cementing Chelsea’s position at the top of the Premier League, Mourinho’s focus now turns to the League Cup, and Tuesday’s semi-final first leg against Liverpool at Anfield.

“Our next game is the biggest game, always,” Mourinho said. “So now we have that game on Tuesday and the Capital One Cup becomes the most important competition. It is as simple as that.”